What we never were
by Kittlin Lovegood
Summary: She sighed, leaning into his body, filling the gap time had forged. Not for the first time did he wish for the clock to stop. He'd wished for it then, and he wished for it now. Although it would be no difference. Stopping time wouldn't stop what had already happened.


They, although separated, watched the young couple dance around the ballroom, completely captivated by one another. She watched as her beautiful daughter laid her head on his shoulder, swaying to the love song playing. He watched as his strong son, so much like him, lightly caressed the girl – no woman- in his arms; lost in their own world, undoubtedly content.

Almost as if an invisible thread were pulling him, he turned his head, his cold grey eyes catching her soft brown. She didn't break their gaze, even though she knew it would be wise, but instead offered him a tentative smile.

His feet moved of their own accord, he ran a hand through his pale blonde hair, reseeding now, almost instinctively. She played absent-mindedly with her brown, slightly greying curls. Her hair held less frizz than it once had. The corners of his mouth turned upwards, offering her one of his rare, genuine smiles.

A blush heated her cheeks. It been over 25 years and she still felt the familiar rush, he could still invoke that feeling of being young and free. He bit his lip, looking at her, he felt 16 again, young, dumb, and hopelessly in love. Her heart beat widely as he held out his hand.

"Granger-I mean- Weasley," He choked on the word, the name, the name that should have been his.

"Let us dance." He pulled her up, as she accepted his hand, and onto the dance floor. They didn't dance as close as they once might have. Time now, more than distance, filled the space between them. They swayed together, silently for a few moments before she spoke.

"Draco." His name, from her lips, sent shivers down his spine. No one had ever said his name quite like she had. She breathed in his musky scent.

"They're happy Hermione." He looked towards his son, still swaying, laughing with her daughter. The _bride. _

She sighed, leaning into his body, filling the gap time had forged. Not for the first time did he wish for the clock to stop. He'd wished for it then, and he wished for it now. Although it would be no difference. Stopping time wouldn't stop what had already happened.

She spoke slowly, evenly, despite her still frantic heart. "They are happy. They were given the chance to love..." She trailed off, looking up at him.

"But we weren't." He finished for her. Knowing the song would end soon, he pulled her closer. For now she was his, and he was hers. For now he held her in his arms.

"Yes, like we weren't. But, Draco. We weren't given a chance, we weren't even given a choice. If I could have then, it-it-it would have been you. It was always you."

He smiled sadly, remembering. "No. It was never us," He nodded towards Rose and Scorpius. "It was always them. Everything, it was for them." If he was given the choice now, he wouldn't go back. He knew he wouldn't, and honestly, he couldn't.

She leaned in once more, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'll always love you." She whispered the words into his ear. Her eyes full of unshed tears, unfulfilled dreams. She gently placed her soft lips against his pale skin, a goodbye. A goodbye to all the things they'd never had.

"And I you, my love. Always." The song ended, he inhaled. She smelled like oranges, sweet, entrancing. He inhaled once again, twice, three times, and he let her go.

Before she turned away, grey eyes met brown. Conveying everything they couldn't say, and infinitely more. In that moment he knew she felt the same, and she did. She wouldn't, not even if she'd been given the chance, change what her daughter, and his son had found.

Rose and Scorpius finally looked up meeting each other's gaze. Never letting one another go, still dancing to the music only they could hear. Wonderful grey eyes, filled with hope, met soft brown, filled with the promise of new dreams, of young love. They, although separated, watched the couple, a sad smile playing at their lips. They watched as his new daughter, and her new son, became what they never were.


End file.
